Boulder, Colorado lawyer, Christopher John Kulish becomes the 11th man to die climbing Mt Everest in 10 days as questions are raised what’s causing the sudden deaths?
A Colorado 62 year old man has become the 11th person to die on Mt Everest in just 10 days after struggling past traffic jam of mountaineers trying to get to the summit.
Christopher John Kulish, 62, died on Monday after scaling the mountain from the normal Southeast Ridge route Reuters reported.
Witnesses told of Chris Kulis dying ‘suddenly’ at South Col after his descent with the cause of the Boulder patent lawyer death’s remaining unclear.
The Nepal tourism department identified Kulish as the second American to die in the last 10 days after reaching the peak.
He was part of a group of climbers and he celebrated his 62nd birthday on the mountain.
Several high altitude tourists, Sherpas ascending/descending at death zone of Mt #Everest on 22 May, 2019. https://t.co/LzeFw6AErk #Everest2019 pic.twitter.com/sNoXQsj00o
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 25, 2019
Christopher John Kulish death a result of over-congestion, more permits, few good days to climb:
Most of the deaths have been attributed to exhaustion and tiredness, exacerbated because a crowded route to and from the summit has led to dangerous delays.
Seasoned Sherpa have told how there are now more inexperienced climbers than ever scaling the peak.
Some do not even know how to put on their shoes but they are fighting and shoving for selfies as they get to the summit.
The over congestion means that everyone waiting to scale the final stretch of the mountain is spending more time than they should with limited oxygen supplies at the very top.
CNN reported poor weather this year has left hundreds of climbers with only several nice days to reach the mountain’s top, at 29,029 feet.
Exclusive visuals of #MtEverest pic.twitter.com/tG1qtIV3Bh
— Mahanati (@Mahanatiii) May 26, 2019
Christopher John Kulish; ‘Chasing the Dream of Mt. Everest’.
News of Kulish’s death came hours after a Canadian film maker described stepping over a dead body to get to the peak during a hike on May 23.
Elia Saikaly, from Ottawa, said he tried to warn other climbers to head off the world’s tallest peak, people who later ended up dead.
Told the filmmaker: ‘Here we all were, chasing a dream and beneath our very feet there was a lifeless soul.
‘Is this what Everest has become?
‘As I documented the team climbing the iconic step, my mind raced and empathized with every person who struggled to stay alive while undoubtedly questioning their own humanity, ethics and integrity.
‘This poor human being perched 7,000ft above the Western CWM for everyone to observe was a reminder of each of our own mortality. Was this the “Dream of Everest'”we all imagined?
‘My heart bled for the family and loved ones and at the same time I was conscious of the necessity to continue to move. At nearly 9,000m above sea level, there is no choice but to carry on.
‘Who is responsible here? The individuals? The companies? The Government? Is it time to enforce new rules? Will things ever change? What’s the solution here?
‘With great sadness, as the cues pushed onwards and upwards, so did we, as did over 200 people that day.
‘I deeply apologize for the sensitivity of this post, but I feel we have a responsibility to inform aspiring future climbers of the seriousness of this undertaking while creating a dialogue around how to make safer, more responsible and more ethical choices with how we approach climbing to the top of the world.
‘To those that lost their lives this season may their souls Rest In Peace.’
Questions have now turned to who is to blame for the dangerous set of circumstances.
Some say the Nepalese government is selling too many of the $11,000 permits required to climb the mountain because it needs the money.
Of the 18 days this year on the mountain, only two have occurred on the Tibetan side – which is stricter with how many permits it issues.
One climber who scaled the summit this week described the scene as ‘scary’.
Ed Dohring, a doctor from Arizona who dreamed his whole life of climbing it, told The New York Times that when he finally got to the summit this week, he had to stand ‘chest-to-chest’ with around 20 other people.
‘It was scary. It was like a zoo,’ he said.
Mt Everest over congestion as Nepal government accused of selling more permits to take in high fees:
Guides who were operating on the Nepalese side of the mountain are now switching to the Tibetan side because they fear more will die.
‘This is not going to improve. There’s a lot of corruption in the Nepali government,’ Lukas Furtenbach, one such guide, said.
‘They take whatever they can get.’
Nepal’s government has denied that it is to blame and says instead that there have not been enough good-weather days this year .
‘If you really want to limit the number of climbers, let’s just end all expeditions on our holy mountain,’ Danduraj Ghimire, the director general of Nepal’s department of tourism said.
Others have told how ruthless and ‘obsessed’ climbers become with getting to the top that they ignore people who may be struggling.
‘I asked people for water and no one gave me any. People are really obsessed with the summit. They are ready to kill themselves for the summit,’ 18-year-old Rizza Alee from Kashmir said.
Another woman said that as she climbed to the top, she saw people around her collapsing but no one stopped to offer them oxygen for fear that they would die themselves.
‘It was terrible,’ she said.
